Stefan Hard / Staff Photo
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., center, announces Monday the introduction of a bill in Congress that would mandate swift implementation of veterans' medical records exchange between the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. Welch, speaking at VFW Post 792 in Montpelier, is flanked by Richard Reed of the State of Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs, left, and Bob Nicodemus of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

MONTPELIER — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch said Monday he is co-sponsoring a bill that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department to find a better way to share information so veterans can have better access to their military health records.

Delays in accessing the records can cause delays in getting VA benefits, said Welch, a Vermont Democrat.

“This bill would put into legislation what the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs have agreed to do and have been trying to do for 15 years,” Welch said. “And that is, make a seamless, one-stop-shopping medical record for all of our veterans.”

He announced his support for the 21st Century Health Care for Heroes Act at a Montpelier news conference.

Under the current system, active duty military personnel get a medical record, Welch said. When they leave the service, the Veterans Administration has a difficult time getting the records needed to provide vets their benefits.

“The notion that you don’t have a seamless medical record is really a head scratcher for people across this country,” Welch said.

He said the Health Care for Heroes Act has dozens of sponsors from both political parties.

The main sponsor is U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., a 24-year military veteran.

In a letter to House colleagues seeking support for the legislation, Gibson said the Defense Department and VA had been working since 1998 to exchange patient health information electronically. But in February the two departments announced they would focus on integrating their existing systems by next year. He said legislation is needed to require the two groups to achieve that goal.

“I have seen far too often veterans in my district facing unacceptable wait times for their VA claims,” Gibson said in a statement Monday. “We have been promised an integrated system for far too long, and this legislation — supported by a bipartisan group of members, including other veterans and doctors — is commonsense.”

Enabling the two departments to work together will lead to doctors and patients being able to access the information anytime and from anywhere, acting Undersecretary of Defense Jessica Wright and Assistant Secretary of Defense Jonathan Woodson said in a joint statement to two House committees this month.

“Our service members, veterans, retirees, and eligible family members deserve nothing less than the best possible care and service our two departments can provide. Successfully achieving the goals articulated by Congress and the president is fundamental to delivering on our promise to them and we are fully committed to doing so,” they said.

Welch was joined Monday by advocates for Vermont veterans. Richard Reed, director of the Vermont office of Veterans Affairs, said his office had seen a number of cases of veterans discharged in the last decade having their benefits delayed because of problems in getting access to records.

Reed said claims stemming from combat wounds are rarely delayed because they’re obvious.

“What’s more common is the soldier has injured their knees. In Afghanistan the soil is awful, it’s rocky — they’re carrying heavy weights on their backs, they wear their knees out, they hurt their backs,” Reed said. “Hidden injuries are much harder to adjudicate without those records.”